Why Asian People Have Less Body Odor

Body odor is a sensitive subject between people, unless you’re Asian. Many Asians claim they don’t have body odor. Is it true that Asians aren’t as smelly as Caucasians or people of African descent? Actually, yes. The answer lies in a particular gene variation. Sorry, science can be politically incorrect.

Video Summary

Body odor comes from aprocrine sweat glands. The glands are located in the underarm and pubic regions, and they secrete sweat that is consumed by bacteria. The waste products of the bacteria are what smell. The glands come from one specific gene: ABCC11. There are two variations of this gene – allele A and allele G. People born with the A allele have fewer active aprocrine sweat glands. Africans, Latin Americans, Europeans and Pacific Islanders have the G allele. However, only a quarter of Japanese people, 10% of Chinese, and no Koreans have the G allele.